Chronic productivity problems and slow computers are costing the UK economy £35 billion every year

LONDON — Employees in the UK's private sector are wasting a whole
working day every month due to IT issues, at an annual cost of
£35 billion ($44.9 billion) to the UK economy, according to new
research by IT provider Managed 24/7 and YouGov.

It found that an average of 5.59% of an employee's productive
time is wasted on IT problems. That equates to 27 minutes every
day, 2.5 hours every week, or a whole day every month.

The survey asked 2,015 private sector workers about their
experience of IT, including whether it was outdated, how much
training they received and whether it was available at the right
times.

The most common IT problems experienced by workers are slow
running systems and equipment, failures in internet connection,
outdated kit, and software and equipment not being ready for a
new starter.

Less than 15% of people said they hadn't experienced any IT
problems in the past year. In bigger firms, more people said they
thought their workplace IT systems were damaging their ability to
do good work.

"The UK is facing a productivity crisis," said John Pepper, CEO
and founder of Managed 24/7. "In light of recent outages such as
at
British Airways and
the NHS, it is time for the UK to address the issue to ensure
we aren't left behind by our more agile neighbours," he says.

The UK is in the middle of a
worsening productivity crisis, and it currently takes a
British worker four days to produce what our German counterparts
make in four. The government's
2016 Autumn Statement provided £0.7 billion to improve
internet connections, but made no other provision for improved IT
services or training. Instead, spending was targetted at areas
considered "critical for productivity," such as housing, research
and development (R&D) and economic infrastructure.

But the report says this ignores a huge underlying problem.

Productivity
levelsManaged
24/7

The wasted time, it calculates, amounts to £1,499 per employee
lost every year, or £35 billion ($44.9 billion). That loss, it
says, is the equivalent of the entire populations of Cardiff and
Birmingham not working at all for a whole year.